I am in the process of selling my house in Southville and the EA has just e-mailed to advise that the purchasers are changing their property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only work with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Southville ?

Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.

Mortgage companies justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any impact on this.

I am under pressure from the executor of a property in Southville to exchange within four weeks. What can I do to expedite matters?

Where you are under time constraints for your conveyancing it is advisable to make sure that your lawyer is familiar with the location as they will make use of local connections and insight. It is possible that they may have transacted otherhomes in the same neighbourhood. You would be best advised to use a Southville conveyancing solicitor. In addition, ensure that the lawyer is on the lender panel. It is claimed that 18% of Southville conveyancing deals are suspended or jeopardised after discovering a buyer’s lawyer was not on their banks panel. This can often result in the transaction being frustrated by an average of 21 days. It is estimated that this issue impacts approximately one hundred thousand home sales annually. Almost all Southville conveyancing practices can not represent certain lenders so do check at the outset.

Will commercial conveyancing searches reveal impending roadworks that may affect a commercial estate in Southville?

Many commercial conveyancing solicitors in Southville will carry out a SiteSolutions Highways report as it dramatically cuts the time that conveyancers expend in looking into accurate data on highways that impact buildings and development assets in Southville. The report provides definitive information on the adoption status of roads, footpaths and verges, as well as the implication of traffic schemes and the rights of way surrounding a commercial development sites in Southville.

For every commercial conveyancing transaction in Southville it is critical to investigate the adoption status of roads surrounding a site. The absence of identifying developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately could result in delays to Southville commercial conveyancing deals as well as present a risk to future intentions for the site. These searches are not ordered for domestic conveyancing in Southville.

I used Action Conveyancing a few years ago for my conveyancing in Southville. Now, I need my files but the law firm has closed. What do I do?

Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Southville of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.

Do I need to be wary that brokers that I am dealing with are suggesting an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Southville conveyancing firm?

As is the case with many professional services, often suggestions from relatives can be worth their weight in gold. Nevertheless there are numerous players in a conveyancing transaction; estate agents, financial adviser and mortgage companies might all suggest lawyers to choose. On occasion these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but occasionally there may be a financial incentive behind the recommendation. You have the right to appoint your own lawyer. However, bear in mind that the majority of mortgage providers specify a panel list of law firms you have to use for the lender aspect of your transaction.